


Full Circle

by MrsHamill



Series: Raising Madison [6]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Family, Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-16
Updated: 2016-02-16
Packaged: 2018-05-21 03:14:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6035776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrsHamill/pseuds/MrsHamill
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It takes the Miller-McKay-Sheppard family just over 24 hours to completely change everything in Atlantis; is this a surprise to anyone?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Full Circle

**Author's Note:**

> Sixth in the Raising Madison series; follows number five directly. As always, thanks to Susan for putting up with this drivel!

It looked like early afternoon on Atlantis, though Rodney was too tired to do the time-zone math in his head like he used to. The 'gateroom was a hive of activity as the 'gate whooshed closed behind them -- security, technicians, boxes and crates being directed into various areas. 

Elizabeth came down the stairs and gave them a warm smile. "You three look a little exhausted," she said, always the mistress of understatement.

"It's about four in the a.m. for us," John said. Madison was clinging to their hands, looking around with big eyes. "Which is early even for the early-riser here."

"Hello, Madison," Elizabeth said, smiling gently.

"Hi, Aunt 'Lizabeth," Madison replied, then yawned.

Elizabeth chuckled. "Carson needs to see you first, but I'm sure he'll make it brief. Then I suggest you catch a nap for at least a couple of hours -- Steven will want to meet with you too, he should be back by fifteen-thirty or so. We'll need to get you back on Atlantis time."

Rodney sighed, but turned to follow Elizabeth down the well-remembered corridor to the infirmary. "A nap would be nice except we have no place in which to take it." He'd never admit it out loud, but it felt so damn good to be back in Atlantis. He hadn't even realized how much he'd missed his city until he was back.

"Yes, you do." Elizabeth smiled over her shoulder. "Remember that apartment I told you about? Whether or not you plan on staying there, it's ready for at least temporary naps. Thank Teyla and Ronon for that." 

"Ronon?" Madison said in a small voice. She was still holding their hands so tightly that Rodney thought he might lose all blood to his left hand and have to amputate it due to gangrene.

There was a rumbled, "Here," as they reached the infirmary door: Ronon and Teyla met them. Elizabeth headed back towards the 'gateroom after squeezing Rodney's arm and patting Madison's head.

Madison actually released their hands and crossed the distance to meet Ronon, who immediately bent  and picked her up. "Hi," Madison said, resting her head on Ronon's shoulder.

"Hi back," Ronon said. He had an incredibly gentle expression on his face as he held Madison, who snuggled down in his arms. Well, if he was going to have Ronon as a nephew-in-law, Rodney figured it wasn't too early to start getting used to it.

Teyla touched their foreheads with hers, rubbing Madison's back and returning her sleepy smile. "I am glad to see you. I understand there was some urgency to your leaving Earth."

John looked half asleep on his feet so Rodney answered. "Yeah. It's about four in the morning for us. Do we have to go see that voodoo doctor?"

"Yes, Rodney, you do," came a familiar Scots voice. "And it's good to see you too." 

Rodney had spoken with Carson a few times in the past weeks but hadn't actually seen him -- his mother had been ill and Rodney knew Carson was spending all his spare time with her. The urge to hug the man was strong, but it would ruin his reputation, so he held back. He put Beelz's carrier on the nearest bed and tentatively stretched out his hand.

It seemed Carson was bent on ruining his reputation anyway; he took the proffered hand and pulled Rodney into a strong hug. "It's good to see you, my friend," Carson murmured.

Coughing a little to clear his throat, Rodney slapped Carson's back a few times. "It's good to see you, too," he said softly. For a voodoo practitioner, Carson was pretty damn good at it. Not that Rodney would ever admit that, either. 

"We missed you at the party and Christmas," John said, shaking Carson's hand. "How's your mother?"

There were new lines around Carson's mouth and eyes. "Not well, I'm afraid. But we can get caught up once you lot have had a chance to settle in. I need blood and a scan for new baselines, so let's get it over quickly." He smiled at Madison, still in Ronon's arms. "Hello, lovely. You must be Madison."

"Uh-huh," Madison said. "Are you Doctor Carson?"

"Aye, that's who I am," Carson confirmed, chucking her gently under her chin. "And you're much prettier than the only picture of you I've seen. You all look rather done in." He looked at the carrier where Beelz was working herself into a spectacular hissy fit. "As does this one. When I saw her name, I wondered, but now I think I know."

"You did get all the vet records?" Rodney asked, beginning to feel as exhausted as John looked.

"Aye, naught to worry about," Carson replied. "We've got an isolation room for her to calm down in, and once you're settled, she can move back in with you. Now, then."

Madison watched as John stretched out under the scanner while Carson took Rodney's blood, then they switched places. She was fascinated by the scanner and the images it produced. "I wanna see it," she demanded after she had been scanned. Then Carson was ready to take her blood.

"Is it gonna be the grown-up way?" she asked, clearly nervous as she sat on the scanner bed. Before Rodney could even blink, John and Ronon were there, John on her left and Ronon behind her, both touching her, soothing her. 

"Yes, my dear," Carson said with a smile. "Have you never had it done?"

"Uh-huh, only my finger," she said, giving Carson a wary look.

"Well, I'm not going to say it doesn't hurt, but I can guarantee it won't hurt much." He tied off her upper arm and began feeling for a vein. "Here. Put your finger here." He gently pushed her finger on one spot. "Feel that, do you?"

"It feels like a piece of s'getti," she said, her face rapt.

"That's the vein I'm going to tap into." He quickly wiped her arm with an alcohol pad and dried it. "Are you ready?"

"Ummm... okay, I guess..."

Rodney could see Carson was using his tiniest needle, but he knew it would hurt a little anyway. Sure enough, as he inserted the needle, Madison began loudly protesting. "Ow! It hurts! You said... Ow! Ow--" she broke off in mid-word as the blood began to fill the line, held in place by the butterfly clamp. "Ooohhh... that is so _cool_ ," she murmured, watching as Carson inserted and filled one small tube.

"It is, isn't it," Carson said, grinning ear to ear. "It shouldn't hurt at all now."

"It doesn't," she said, still distracted by the process. "Unca Mer, look! That's just so cooool." Rodney shot a mild glare at John, who completely ignored it. They really had to work on Madison's language or she was going to end up speaking like some dumb surfer girl for the rest of her life.

Carson withdrew the needle and pushed a cotton ball into her arm. "Hold that there for me, sweeting," he said. When he turned back to Madison, his grin was even wider. "I have it on good authority you'll  like these plasters." He showed them to her and John started laughing.

"SpongeBob!" Madison crowed. She smiled up at Carson as he applied the band-aid. "Thank you, Dr. Carson."

"You're most welcome, my lovely. Now I prescribe a nap, for all three of you."

Finally they were free and headed for the nearest transporter. "It is just after midday so I would counsel a short nap only," Teyla said as she escorted them. Ronon had picked Madison back up and Rodney was glad to let him, she was too heavy for Rodney or John but if Ronon didn't mind carting her around, more power to him. "We have put your crates in the apartment, but they can be moved again if you find better quarters."

"When will the Daedalus arrive?" Rodney asked, taking a deep breath. Yeah, a nap sounded pretty damn good.

"The Daedalus is due tomorrow," Teyla replied. They emerged from the transporter into a section of the living quarters Rodney didn't remember well. "And she must return immediately. I believe you were updated on the situation?" Teyla glanced at Madison then at Rodney, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," Rodney replied. And no, he didn't want to talk about it in front of Madison, but Teyla obviously understood that and she nodded at his pointed look.

Teyla stopped in front of a door and passed her hand over the lock. When the door opened, Rodney blinked. It was a large, airy space, with floor-to-ceiling windows and what looked like a full kitchen. There were some pieces of furniture in it, though not a lot, which was good -- there was much more coming.

Ronon put Madison down and she ran to the windows. "There's a balcony, Unca Mer," she said, plastering her face against the windows. 

"Yes, there is," Teyla said, smiling. "There are two bedrooms and two bathing rooms. This room is larger and has the larger bed." They followed her into one of the rooms and Rodney sighed. A massive bed dominated the room along with three dressers and a large closet. The bed had been made with sheets and pillows and a very soft-looking comforter.

"No curtains?" John asked, frowning.

"Watch," Ronon said, walking to the windows and turning a small device set into the wall next to the windows. Slowly, the windows polarized until they were completely dark, only a small sliver of light at the top showing that the sun was up. Why hadn't their previous quarters had that? It would have made life so much easier.

"Wow," Madison said, then yawned.

Teyla smiled and Ronon picked Madison up again. "You want to sleep here or in your room?" He asked. 

She gave him a hug. "Here," she said, and he gently dropped her on the bed. John removed her slippers and robe as she yawned again. "I'm pooped, Unca John," she said, snuggling down into the comforter over the bed. She was so tired she almost sounded drunk.

"I am too, Maddie," John said, and Rodney agreed. 

"Nap." Rodney turned to Teyla and Ronon. "Thank you for this," he said, hoping his voice could convey his gratitude.

Ronon just grinned and slapped Rodney and John on the back. Teyla smiled gently. "Rest for a few hours. There will be much to do when you wake."

As they left, John sat on the bed and kicked off his shoes. "Home," he said, smiling at Rodney and Madison, who was already half-asleep.

Rodney pulled his shoes off too and stretched out on Madison's other side. "Yeah," he said, sighing happily as he took his spot in their family. "Home."

* * *

John had set his internal clock for a two hour wake-up call but he thought it was off. His watch agreed -- it was a good twenty minutes later than he'd wanted to wake, though he had no idea what time it actually was in Atlantis. In the back of his brain, he heard the same low, soothing murmur that was a combination of the ocean, the radios and the PA system, and something else, something he'd never been able to pinpoint. Whatever it was, it was just _there_ , telling him all was right with his world. He hadn't realized how much he'd missed it until he had it back.

He stretched and turned He saw Rodney on his back in his usual stiff 'power-nap' pose... and there was nobody between them. John was just groggy enough to let that thought go for a few seconds before he literally jumped out of bed and headed for the other room. He sighed in relief when he saw Madison sitting on the balcony, cross legged, still in her pajamas.

The door opened automatically for him as he approached. "Hey, Beav. Don't go scaring me like that." He sprawled behind her, deeply inhaling the fresh, cool salt breeze.

She leaned back against him. "Sorry," she murmured. "It's pretty here. And loud, too."

"Yeah, that's what happens when you're someplace surrounded by ocean." He yawned. "How long have you been up?"

"Just a little while, honest. I wasn't tired anymore. Where's Beelz?"

"She's with Carson, but once we get settled, she can move in with us. Do you like this apartment?"

"I guess. Is the other room mine?"

"Yes, or it will be if we decide to keep it. Maybe we should get you dressed? Then we can go look at it and decide whether we want to live here."

"Can we have breakfast too? Do they have French toast on Atlantis?"

"Well, I doubt there's much here to eat, but we can look. And yes, we can have breakfast, but it'll be dinner time soon, you know."

"Oh." She stood and followed him into the apartment. 

He headed for the kitchen, and yes, it was a full kitchen, which was good, since he'd shipped most of their kitchen things on the Daedalus. He thought Teyla might have... "Yes!" he said, after opening the fridge (having figured that out on his first try). "Pams. Teyla always knows."

"What are pams?" Madison asked, and John lifted her to sit on one of the counters.

"This is a pam," he said, holding out one of the big, fat, purple-skinned fruits while he searched for a knife. "We call 'em pams because they taste like a cross between pears, apples and mangos. Ah." He found a knife in one drawer and used it to cut into one of the fruits, sectioning it in half then cutting a smaller slice from one. "Here." It was fresh and juicy, and he bit into one half and grinned as the juice spat out.

Madison screwed up her face but took a tentative bite and John could tell when the taste hit her. "Oh! These are good!"

"Yup." He sliced more pieces and they had a pam feast. 

John was checking for other things when Rodney finally wandered out of the bedroom. "How long have you two been awake?"

"Not long. Want a pam?"

" _Pams_? Oh, God yes." John tossed him a chunk and Rodney bit into it with an ecstatic smile. "I'd forgotten about these," he said around a mouthful of the dark red fruit. He walked around the counter to where Maddie sat.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, Unca Mer," Madison said with a wide grin and a mouthful of her own fruit.

"Don't pick on your elders, Three-M." They grinned at each other and John had that pang he only felt when he realized that Rodney and Madison were sharing something beyond his reach, something he wouldn't understand because he was the newcomer; he would never have the blood ties to Madison that Rodney had. Then, of course, there was the whole 'stay-at-home-mother' thing, which really shouldn't be bothering him as much as it was -- it wasn't like he wasn't the most suited for the job. He wasn't  a genius nor a savant; a fondness for SuDoKu puzzles Fibonacci numbers didn't really mean much in the McKay-Miller world. He had no idea why Rodney sometimes accused him of being the better parent because there was so much between Rodney and Maddie that John would never know... and wasn't he pathetic for feeling jealous?

He pulled some juice boxes -- apple and papaya -- out of the fridge and put them on the counter next to Madison. "I need a shower and Maddie needs to get dressed. And we need to decide if this is going to be our home so we can maybe unpack before the Daedalus and the rest of our stuff gets here. Oh, the piano!" he added with a wince. "I don't think there's going to be any way to move that thing once it's here."

"We're staying here," Rodney said firmly. "Go look at the bathroom."

"Huh?" John helped Madison off the counter and went into their bedroom, and from there to the bath. It was huge, gleaming and beautiful, and there was a sunken tub. An enormous sunken tub. With what looked like water jets. "Oh."

"Cool! Does mine have that?" Madison went tearing back across what had to be categorized as the living room for the other bath, which was accessible from the living room. John and Rodney followed at a more leisurely pace. "Mine isn't as big," Madison said, and she was right. But it was still pretty damn big.

"Okay, we're staying," John said, and when he looked at Rodney he saw them both in that tub with the water jets on.

"Yay!" Madison yelled. "Is there Cartoon Channel here?"

While Rodney tried to explain that no, the Cartoon Channel was not able to broadcast into the Pegasus galaxy, John dug towels and clothing out of the crate they'd so hastily packed a few hours and an entire galaxy ago. Then he beat a strategic retreat to the bathroom to wash up. The shower stall was nearly as big as the tub and the water came from several nozzles, giving him the opportunity to fantasize about them both in there, too. Yeah, they were going to stay here. John wondered if Ronon or Teyla or even Elizabeth knew about the bathroom and picked this apartment out because of it.

By the time he was done, Rodney was ready to trade places and Madison was dressed. John used the time to help her get her clothing put away and to talk about the furniture and stuff that would be coming on the Daedalus. There were two radio earsets in the kitchen and as Rodney came out of their room after his shower, John put one of them in his ear and touched it on.

"Elizabeth? Sheppard to Weir."

"John! Are the three of you up?"

"Yes, we are, and ready to face the rest of the day." Madison was yanking on his shirt and whispering "French toast! French toast!" so John added, "Well, after a stop in the mess for little girls who don't understand the meaning of delayed gratification."

Elizabeth laughed. "Steven is due back from recon in about half an hour. We can combine the first of what will be several meetings with his debrief. Can you be here by then?"

John looked at his watch and realized it was still on EST. "If you can tell me what time it is here," he said and Elizabeth chuckled again. 

"It's fourteen-fifty-three. See you when you get here. Weir out."

"What's a mess?" Madison asked Rodney as John corrected his watch, changing it back to follow Atlantis' twenty-five point-two-hour day.

"It's what your Uncle John makes whenever he cooks," Rodney replied and John rolled his eyes.

"It's another name for a... cafeteria," John said, ushering them out. He looked around to make sure he could find his way back again. "Where people eat. Don't ask me why it's called that, because I have no idea."

There was no French toast in the mess but after asking, they were given leftover banana-nut muffins and a couple of hard-boiled eggs. Rodney got his coffee and John his usual big bottle of water, which he shared with Madison. 

As soon as they stepped out of the transporter next to the mess hall they were stared at and John could hear the murmurs start. They weren't _bad_ sounds, and the looks were more of a surprised good cheer than anything else. Regardless, they continued all the way from the mess hall to the 'gateroom. Madison was silent and looked around with big eyes, holding either John's or Rodney's hand (or both), clearly awed and not a little scared.

It wasn't quite fifteen-thirty and Elizabeth was in her office. As they came across the bridge, they could see movement under her desk and John realized it was her dog, he'd almost forgotten she had it. "Beav," he said. "Look under Elizabeth's desk."

Madison inhaled sharply. "A doggie!?"

Both Elizabeth and her dog looked up as Madison spoke and Elizabeth smiled. By the time they'd reached her office, the dog was wriggling like a mad thing, obviously eager for new people but being held back by good training.

"You three look much better for a nap," Elizabeth said. 

"Is he your doggie? Can I pet him?" Madison said with her normal single-minded intensity.

Elizabeth's smile morphed into a grin. "Yes, she's my dog, and her name is Sage and of course you can pet her. You'll have to watch out, though, she might lick you to death."

Madison went to her knees and was immediately swarmed over by Sage, who seemed intent on sniffing and licking every square centimeter of her. Giggling, Madison cheerfully tussled with the dog. "Thanks a lot, Elizabeth," Rodney said, in that sour, put-upon voice that didn't fool John for an instant any longer. "Dog drool and hairballs, my favorite things."

"And cat dander is better?" Elizabeth said, leaning against her desk watching her dog playfully maul Madison. "This is a good thing, though, as I wanted to offer Madison a job on Atlantis."

That got Madison's attention away from the dog. "A job? Me?"

"Yes, you. Sometimes I get too busy to pay attention to Sage, to take her for walks when she needs to or just to play with her. I thought maybe you would be able to help me with that?"

"Can I?" 

She looked pleadingly at John and Rodney but John figured he should leave this decision to Rodney, who sighed noisily. "Yes, I think we can work something out. It's just so... odd... to see animals around here." He snorted. "Well, except for the trained monkeys they keep pressing on us as scientists."

"Oh, yes, we've really missed you, Rodney," Elizabeth said, and John was pretty sure she was biting her lip to keep from laughing. 

Before anyone could speak further, the 'gate began dialing. "That will be Steven. Carson, Teyla, Ronon and Evan should be here in a moment as well." The 'gate whooshed open and Campbell reported Caldwell's IDC, so Elizabeth had them drop the shield. 

When Colonel Caldwell stepped through the gate with a small team of scientists and marines, John nodded. This was going to be _fun_ \-- Caldwell was no longer his boss, Elizabeth was. When still with the military, he knew he nominally reported to Elizabeth; most of the time, however, he knew it was Caldwell he had to impress. He knew it was Caldwell who would always be around to criticize him, assess him. That was all changed, now. He hoped.

They trooped back across the bridge through the control room to the steps, Sage following both Elizabeth and Madison. "Welcome home, Steven," Elizabeth said. "As you can see, our prodigals have returned."

Caldwell nodded at John, his face more open and welcoming than John had expected, then he held his hand out to Rodney. "It's very, very good to see you again, Dr. McKay."

"It is?" Rodney replied, shaking Caldwell's hand, his eyes darting around.

"Yes, absolutely." The doors to the conference room opened behind them. "This must be Miss Miller," Caldwell added, then shocked the hell out of John by going to one knee in front of her, much like Teal'c had done at their first meeting. "I'm Colonel Steven Caldwelll, young lady. May I call you Madison?"

Madison checked briefly with John and Rodney before replying. "Okay. Can I call you Colonel Steven? Like General Hank? You just came in through the stargate, didn't you?"

The grin on Caldwell's face could have lit the city. John's gaze met Rodney's over Madison's head and Rodney looked just as completely floored as John. "You certainly can, and yes, I did. Did you see me?"

"Uh-huh! I came here through the stargate from Earth. Where were you?"

"I'm afraid it wasn't nearly as important as your trip, I was just visiting some of our friends." He stood back up. "Let's go find seats in here and spare my ancient knees."

Madison giggled. She _giggled_. At _Caldwell_. John figured he'd see Rod Serling step out from behind a column any minute now.

They sat at the base of the U-shaped table. Madison claimed John's lap; Sage, the floor beneath them. "We've got a lot to talk about here," Elizabeth said. "Reassignments, duty rosters, realignments of our command structure... Obviously, we're not going to get it all taken care of right now, but we need to start thinking about the big picture." She looked up with a smile. "Here come the rest of the troops."

John looked up as Major Lorne came into the room, grinning widely. "Evan," John said with a smile. 

"Glad to have you back, Col-- I mean..."

"John will do just fine," John said with a laugh. 

Lorne turned to Rodney. "And you have no idea how much I missed you, Dr. McKay. We're all glad you're back." 

Once again, Rodney looked stunned.

"The reports you wanted, sir." Lorne gave a clipboard to Caldwell before sitting next to John. "Who's your girlfriend there?"

"Madison Miller, this is Major Lorne."

"Hi," Lorne said and Maddie shyly smiled back.

Ronon and Carson followed Teyla into the room. She took a seat on Elizabeth's right and Carson sat next to her, but Ronon didn't sit. Elizabeth's dog's tail began thumping hard when she saw Ronon. "Thought I could steal Madison for a while," Ronon said. "Teyla says this part is going to be boring."

Rodney looked as relieved as John felt -- they had no other recourse but to bring Madison with them wherever they went and it was going to get old, quick. "You sure you don't mind?" John said, looking at both Ronon and Madison.

"Nah. We can take Sage for a walk and I'll show Madison the park. Meet you all in the mess hall later?"

"Can I go with Ronon?" Madison asked, hard on the heels of Ronon's words.

John glanced at Rodney, who nodded slightly. "Okay. Dinner at eighteen-thirty. Have fun," he added. Sage appeared to be as eager to leave too, and happily followed them out of the room. 

"And be careful!" Rodney added.

"That is one of the things we're going to have to talk about," Elizabeth said as the doors closed. "Maddie is the first child on Atlantis -- not including the Athosians who weren't here long -- so there are things we're going to have to be careful with around her." She smiled ruefully. "As the Athosian children proved while they _were_ here."

"And especially since she has the ATA gene," Carson said, nodding. "It's almost as strong as yours, John."

"Yeah, we know," John said, rubbing the back of his neck. "And she's a genius who likes to pull things apart to look at them." He sighed. "We never said it would be easy... that was one of our main objections to bringing her to Atlantis."

"But I think she's better off here than on Earth," Caldwell said and once again, John blinked in surprise. "Especially if she's got the gene. Earth isn't as safe as we'd like it to be right now."

John looked at Rodney. "I haven't had time to be briefed on the immediate situation, and we were in and out of SGC so quickly that I never talked to anyone..."

"We can fill you in later, John," Elizabeth said. "And the situation may change in the next seventy-two hours anyway. I suggest we briefly table Madison's residence on Atlantis and discuss Rodney's return to the science division." 

Caldwell leaned forward. "Let me tell you why Major Lorne and I are so glad to see you, Dr. McKay," he said. "Since you left, two years ago, the science division has been getting harder and harder to control. Dr. Zelenka kept the lid on it, mostly, but when he left to get married and Sheppard left to collect you," Caldwell gave John a raised-eyebrow look, "well, the technical term for it is 'gone completely to hell.'"

John winced. Yeah, he could see that, especially since Zelenka left. 

Caldwell continued. "Zelenka will not return unless you're reinstated as the head of science and I can't blame him. I'd rather herd cats than deal with those people."

"You were always able to keep them under control, Rodney," Elizabeth said. "We need you to do that again."

Rodney was doing his best fish imitation, so it took him a few moments to speak. When he did, he looked accusingly at John. "Why didn't you tell me this?" he demanded.

"Because it wasn't that bad when I left," John replied defensively. He didn't have to look to know about the twin glares he was getting from Elizabeth and Caldwell. Actually, make that three, the last from Lorne, whom he had put in charge when he left. "Though it was degenerating pretty damn fast. Guess it got... worse... after I left..."

"You could say that," Lorne muttered and John winced again.

"The important part is you got him to come back," Elizabeth said, her lips twitching. 

"Dr. McKay, your people are tired of dealing with me, and frankly, I'm tired of dealing with them," Caldwell said. "If you can take over as head of the science division--"

"And Radek comes back," Elizabeth added, nodding.

"And if I can get Sheppard to act as a buffer between your people and mine," Caldwell continued and John was hit by his own tsunami, "I think we'll all be better off."

"Is that what you want?" John asked before he could stop himself. 

Caldwell turned a mild gaze on him. "You know Atlantis inside and out, have the strongest incidence of the ATA gene, and you're married to the head of the science division, also known as the civilians. Can you think of a better way to use your skill set than as home-guard leader?"

Huh. Well, no, when put that way, it made a lot of sense. Not, of course, that John would actually _want_ that kind of job, because working with the science division was a good way to get an ulcer. But, in turn, he'd have Rodney as his own buffer, so...

"Can we call this successfully resolved?" Elizabeth was asking, looking at Rodney as she spoke.

Rodney still looked like someone had run over him with a truck, but he managed to nod. 

Elizabeth and Caldwell looked slightly amused but Carson and Teyla were hiding grins behind their hands. "Never thought you could be so loved and needed, McKay?" John said, just because it was fun to bait Rodney. 

"Oh, were you planning on sleeping in your old quarters tonight, Sheppard?" Rodney fired back, and Carson actually laughed.

"Next point," Elizabeth said, her voice a bit louder and her eyes bright with held-in laughter, "deals with the roster of the 'gate teams. And this also comes back to you and Rodney, John, because I don't think we should have both of you off-world at the same time."

John looked across the table at Rodney; both of them sighed. John just hoped he'd be able to lead some off-world recon at least once a month, maybe. He wasn't holding his breath. In his brain, he repeated what Rodney had called 'the parent mantra:' it only lasts eighteen years.

Yeah. Right.

* * *

It appeared that Elizabeth and Caldwell had been working on the personnel roster since Rodney had been talked into returning to Atlantis. While Rodney didn't like the idea of going off-world without John, he understood their reluctance. He could clearly remember plenty of times where, were it not for luck, they might have both been killed. It had been scary at the time; now, bringing Madison into the equation, it was abjectly terrifying.

Elizabeth touched on the subject of schooling for Madison and said she'd be meeting with Rodney and John -- and, surprisingly, Teyla -- later on to schedule classes. Apparently, Teyla had asked to include some of the Athosian children in the classes and Rodney thought that was brilliant. Then Teyla commented that Madison might like to spend time on the mainland with the Athosian children, learning practical life-lessons, and Rodney sighed happily. They might be able to get some time to themselves after all. He needed to ask Teyla who on the mainland might like to do some babysitting -- though he'd rather rely on Ronon.

Personnel wasn't the only thing they'd worked on. Turned out that Caldwell had been off-world to one of the agrarian beta sites, one of four that had been set up 'just in case.' Rodney remembered the  hurried, bare facts briefing he'd received before leaving for Atlantis and figured he knew what 'just in case' meant. It probably wasn't the Wraith, because (to his surprise) what few of them were left were running scared. It was in case the battalion of Ori motherships heading for Chulak won.

By the end of the meeting, they were up to speed with a lot of it. Rodney would call a staff meeting the next day and read his people the riot act, which would make Caldwell very happy. They still had to work out John's place in the hierarchy but on his end, it would be straight-forward. He still couldn't credit it; Caldwell was glad to have him back. Was glad to have both of them back. Bizarre.

By eighteen-thirty they were substantially finished and ready for dinner. At the mess hall they found Ronon and Madison -- both absolutely filthy but with shiny, clean hands -- the center of attention. Sage was under their table, begging for scraps. Madison was kneeling on a chair and eating finger-food that looked suspiciously like chicken nuggets. 

When she saw them enter, Madison let out a whoop and jumped off her chair, running to and crashing into Rodney. "Unca Mer! Unca Mer! They gots a park here! And there's gonna be a swimming pool!"

Rodney winced and shook his head. " _Got_ a park, Three-M, and you are disgustingly filthy. What were you doing, trying to dig to the ocean bottom?"

"Nope!" she replied happily, still clinging and thereby transferring some of her dirt to Rodney's pants. "Ronon took me to the green-housies! They gots -- got -- lots of plants and I helped put a plant into a bigger pot!" She saw John come in, talking with Elizabeth, and left Rodney for him. "Unca John! Unca John!" 

Rodney sighed and shook his head, looking down at his pants. He tried to brush some of it off but it was futile. "Thanks a lot, Ronon," he said.

Ronon just grinned, utterly unrepentant. "We had fun." 

"Obviously," he muttered as he made for the food. He went through the line and got his tray and yes, it was chicken nuggets, or fingers, or whatever. Madison was still clinging to John like a limpet, talking so fast even Rodney couldn't keep up. He took the seat next to Madison's and to his surprise, Caldwell sat opposite him. 

Caldwell was grinning and watching the Madison show even as he began eating. "Is she always like this?" he asked. 

"Yeah, pretty much," Rodney replied, tucking into his food. It was better than it had been when he left, that was for sure. "Her mom always said it was the McKay genes coming out." With a start of surprise, Rodney realized thinking about Jeannie and Kaleb was much easier. Why that should bother him he didn't know, but it did. He looked down at his tray and tried to look like he was picking what piece of chicken to eat.

"I always wanted kids," Caldwell said, the perfect non-sequitur. 

Rodney lifted his head and blinked, almost stunned. "Really?"

"Yeah." Caldwell was still watching Madison. "I figured I'd get through the academy, put in my fifteen years, manage to get to a nice, reasonably cushy, long-term assignment and get married, settle down, have a bunch of kids." His grin faded slightly. "Then, of course, SGC came around." He looked up at Rodney's face and Rodney was surprised at the honesty revealed there. "What would you have said to an offer like that?"

"Kids are great," Ronon said and Caldwell gave him a slightly surprised look. "Before the Wraith, I was figuring something along those lines. Never got there." He sighed. "Malina and I wanted three or four."

"I never expected to be a parent, wasn't sure I ever wanted to be one," Rodney admitted. "I'm, ah, not all that good with kids, really. Maddie has me wrapped around her little finger, I think." 

Ronon snorted. "I wouldn't say that. You're doing a good job with her. She's happy and healthy and that's all that counts."

"Listen to the man," Caldwell said, nodding his agreement. "If what I read about her genius brain is true, then you've got your work cut out for you. Let her be a kid, give her love and attention. That's really all they need." He chuckled. "My grandmother used to say kids had to eat a peck of dirt a day or they wouldn't be healthy. Seems she's got that requirement down."

John had finally managed to shake his dirt lump and she returned to her place across from Ronon. There were still a few chicken pieces on her tray and a good chunk of her salad. "Salad, Three-M," Rodney said. 

"Okey-dokey," Madison replied, digging in. 

Sage was under her seat and whined, just slightly. Rodney saw Madison begin to slip one of her chicken pieces off her plate and stopped her. "Feed yourself first, Three-M." 

She sighed but put the chicken in her mouth. "D'you think Beelz will like Sage?" she asked around a mouthful of food.

"Are you kidding? She'll hate Sage. But we'll find out soon, we should get our furniture and stuff tomorrow and she can move in with us then." Rodney kept eating and kept an eye on Maddie as he did. She looked to be winding down, which was good -- they wanted her to sleep deeply, all night, and wake up on Atlantis time. Hopefully. "So where's this pool supposed to be?"

Rodney listened with half an ear as Madison talked, describing the park (down to the least clod of dirt) and the pool, which was apparently an Ancient-designed water park, something they hadn't discovered until recently. The arguments about it apparently stemmed from whether the water they used in it should be treated with chlorine (or some other additive) or left as saltwater. Rodney rolled his eyes -- a non-issue, again. If the Ancients had a water park on Atlantis, then they surely had a water purifying system too. He placed it on his mental list of Things To Talk To The Minions About and continued eating his chicken.

Teyla dragged a chair to the table between Ronon and Madison and began an earnest conversation with both of them. Then John did the same on the other end of the table, between Rodney and Caldwell. Rodney made room for his tray. "Hey," he said.

John smiled. "Hey yourself. I just put in an order for groceries, I've been reliably informed it'll be ready by twenty-hundred or so. Elizabeth's filled me in, well, at least partially filled me in on the situation with the Ori--"

"I've got more," Caldwell interrupted, looking between them. "When you came in, I also got a compressed, coded update. If you can, stop by my office before you head in for the night."

Rodney nodded, looking to John for confirmation. "Yeah," John said. "That'd be great. She told me that the Daedalus is going to have to turn around and push the ZPM hard to get back to the Milky Way. They're far closer to us than them, but even if they skipped us, they might not be in time -- they're expecting a pretty big force in the incursion, much more than the original four ships."

"We've got a mostly filled ZPM here for them and they're bringing an empty one with them for us to fill," Caldwell said. "We've been talking about ways to do a tandem rig, and whether it would even help them get back sooner. The Korolev has been rushed into service and we've got Free Jaffa and Tok'ra ships available on our side, but it would be a big help to have the Daedalus, too. Could we even build a rig for two? And if so, would it work?"

"Well, there's a couple of schools of thought on that," Rodney said, then launched into a debate over whether it would help or not. Of course it was possible, he could do it pretty easily, because hello, genius. But would it help?

Caldwell and Sheppard began nodding, interjecting their own comments. Caldwell was of the opinion that even if it wouldn't help the ship go faster, having at least one full ZedPM might benefit the Odyssey or the Korolev, should the battle they were expecting go badly. That was a good point, and when John started talking about hyperspace generators and how they used power, Rodney began wishing he had his laptop or at least paper and pen with him.

"McKay." Rodney was so caught up in the debate that he almost didn't hear Ronon's soft voice. "Hey, McKay."

Madison had spaced out again. She was folding and re-folding her paper napkin into intricate shapes, rocking back and forth very slightly, her little face blank. John stood and walked around the table, crouching down by her side. "She's humming again," he murmured.

"This is what you have described, yes?" Teyla asked, her voice very soft. Ronon actually looked a bit spooked, but then again, it was his first time. "It is as if her mind slipped away in the middle of her sentence, the middle of a word."

"Yeah." John didn't touch her; they'd figured out that touch cut short her thought and wrenched her out of her fugue state badly. "Don't touch her," John said, hard on Rodney's thoughts. "She'll come out of it on her own. Just stay with her until she's out."

The drama at their table apparently drew others, including Carson, who took John's abandoned seat. "This is it, then?" he asked quietly, giving Madison a very intent look. "And there's no rhyme or reason for it, no other outside stimuli?"

"Not that we've been able to discern." Rodney looked up and saw the crowd gathering; one semi-panicked glance at Caldwell had him standing and clearing away the knot of people, leaving only those at their table, including Carson and Elizabeth. Rodney sighed in relief and hoped his expression conveyed his gratitude.

About a minute later, Madison blinked. She grinned at Ronon then turned to Rodney. "Unca Mer?"

"Yes, Three-M?" Rodney said, and it took effort to keep his voice from shaking.

"'Member when you showed me the stuff about--" she screwed up her face and said, very carefully-- "non-yew-klid-din strugshur?"

"You mean non-Euclidian structure? When we talked about sub-space and how it's accessed?"

"Yeah! That stuff. 'Member? I said it's got to be folded too. You know, like the wormy-holes do to real space." She took a drink from her juice box. "So it can. Be folded. Like wormy-holes, only shorter."

Behind him, Rodney heard Elizabeth inhale sharply. "I know we tried to get the proof to work and couldn't," he said, striving for a nonchalant tone. 

"Yeah, but that was before I gots more linear math. I knows how to do it, now." She smiled brilliantly at Caldwell. "It'll help the ships go faster! And then maybe nobody will have to fight those Ory guys. I don't like them very much." She picked up the last bite of chicken. "Can Sage have this?" she asked Elizabeth. "She's really, really hungry. And why is it so loud?"

"That's because nobody ever feeds her or pets her," Elizabeth said, her voice pitched slightly higher than normal. "She's terribly abused, but yes, you can give her half of that. And it'll be quieter after dinner."

As Elizabeth spoke, John rose. Rodney knew they were looking at each other over Madison's head, but didn't care, his whole attention was focused on Madison, who was making Sage stand up and bark for her treat. He didn't have to look to know the expression everyone wore, because it was on his own face, he was sure of it.

"Do you think..." Caldwell said, hesitantly.

"Yeah, I do," Rodney replied. "I wish we had Radek or Sam here, though. It would make things easier." He looked up at John. "I need to--"

"I know," John interjected. His face was tightly closed but Rodney didn't have time to wonder about it. "Your old lab?"

"That would work. When is the Daedalus due?"

"She should be here around twelve or thirteen hundred," Caldwell replied. "She's going to beam everything down, turn around and leave. Is that enough time?"

"I guess it'll have to be," Rodney said with a sigh. 

"We can get Colonel Carter," Elizabeth said. "We can establish a wormhole to Chulak and our signal can be routed to her, assuming the Ori haven't made it yet. Our intelligence says we have a few days, at most, before the fleet arrives."

"To Sam? Can she come here? Unca Mer, can--"

"You can talk to her, Three-M, but she has responsibilities. She needs to stay where she is," Rodney said gently. "So, let's get going on those equations so we can send 'em to her."

"Okey-dokey! It can be a late Chrissy-muss present!" 

As a unit, everyone who had been at their table stood and headed for Rodney's old lab. John made a side trip to their quarters to retrieve Rodney's laptop. There were a couple of people from the science division already in the lab, only one of them was familiar. "Prescott," Rodney said. "Move. We've got an urgent task."

"Dr. McKay?" Prescott squeaked. "I'd heard you were coming back--"

"You heard right," Rodney replied shortly. He snapped his fingers. "Come on, we don't have all night. Who are you?" he asked the female with Prescott.

She gave him an assessing stare. "Dr. Patricia Liu," she said, rising from her seat. She was tall and slender with a mass of dark hair on her head and Rodney had never heard of her.

"Fine, fine, whatever, leave. We've got just a few hours to prove this multi-dimensional theorem and check the equations so the Daedalus can get back to the Milky Way faster." He grabbed a mostly cleared whiteboard and several markers, then pushed it over to a bench. Ronon picked Madison up, swung her around gently, and plopped her on top of the bench. "Can you reach it this way, Three-M?"

"Yup!" She took a marker from him and started writing, quickly. "It's got that funny smell, Unca Mer! And it squeaks." She pressed hard and laughed when the marker squeaked on the board.

"Madison." She grinned at Rodney who rolled his eyes. "Before your bedtime, please."

"Oookaaaay..." she said, dragging out the word, but she started writing again. 

Rodney kept one eye on her as he fired up his laptop. Madison's handwriting was sloppy but he could see what she was doing. As she finished the first set of equations, he heard a sharply inhaled breath and turned. Prescott and the other woman were still there, staring at the equations. Whoever she was, her gaze was as intent on Madison as Rodney's was. "Didn't I tell you to leave? Why are you still here?" he asked.

"Rodney." John had come up behind him and sounded angry, for some reason. "Play nice."

Rolling his eyes, Rodney said, "No. I'm her boss, and if she--"

She ignored him, still focused on the equations Madison was writing. "This could mean a significant increase in speed, cutting through the multi-dimensional barriers that hold--"

"Uh-huh!" Madison said, turning to grin at the woman, whatever her name was. "See? Wormy-holes wiggle through the real space, and... and..." Madison stopped and blinked. "These are like wormy-holes too, Unca Mer, but they're not. What do we call 'em?" Before Rodney could take a breath, she crowed, "Super-holes! 'Cause they're holes in super-subby-space!"

John laughed, shaking his head. "I thought we'd decided you weren't going to name anything else, Beav?" 

"It's appropriate," the other female said. Rodney was surprised to find her scanning the equations and taking notes on her own laptop. "She's using multi-dimensional space theory to create shortcuts through sub-space, basically cutting through time as much as space... Yes... it's so simple! Why didn't we see it before? We've known space was non-Euclidian since--"

"Because it took someone who was a genius and who could see in more than four dimensions to find it," Rodney said, still distracted by the equations pouring out of Madison but surprised at the other woman's insight. "What's your name again?"

"Patricia Liu, assistant to the mathematics chair at MIT." Her voice was still distracted. "Formerly. Got into a fight with--"

"You're the woman who pissed off Colding!" Rodney said, with sudden realization.

"Language, Unca Mer," Madison said, not even turning around. 

Rodney heard several chuckles and ignored them, even as he continued his thought. "Good job, that. He's an overbearing, under-educated idiot. Prove to me you were right and you can stay in Atlantis. Check her math."

Madison was running out of room. "Unca Mer?"

Prescott, who was also still there for some bizarre reason, quickly pushed another whiteboard into place after erasing it. Rodney nodded then entered the last string, his brain only half a step past Madison's thoughts. He noted Liu was standing in front of the first whiteboard, going over the equations, step-by-step. Good. If she had half a brain (and her having pissed of Colding implied she did), then they might be able to hand Carter the completed proof. Not to mention having the Daedalus fitted for the new, improved hyper-hyperspace generator. He took a deep breath and began working on the second set of equations.

* * *

John watched Maddie write string after string of equations, some of which he could almost follow. Rodney tutoring Madison in linear math had also elevated John's mathematics skills, almost by osmosis, but this stuff was as far beyond him as Atlantis was from Earth. When Rodney began arguing with Madison and the other mathematician -- the tall, pretty, almost Asian one -- John backed away, joining the rest of the audience. He had to swallow hard before he could speak normally.

"This could go on for a couple of hours," he said, "or at least until Madison passes out. But there're things that have to be done before that happens," he said. "Not the least of which is getting her washed. And since Rodney's in math-land, I guess that means I have to do it." Not that he was bitter or anything -- being reduced to the 'mom' should be old hat to him by now.

"Like what, John?" Elizabeth asked, her eyes still on Madison.

"I need to get her bedroom ready, need to stock our kitchen... By the way, thanks for the pams, Teyla."

She nodded, graceful as ever. "I will help you, John. You are right, there is much to do for the morning."

"And the Daedalus gets here tomorrow bringing boxes and boxes of things which need a place to be put." John struggled to keep his frustration under wraps, to shove aside the feelings of _here we go, again_ with Rodney disappearing into work, only this time taking Madison with him.

"We'll all help," Caldwell said. "I'll bring a short squad of marines to help with the heaviest stuff. They could use the exercise."

They moved to the door, but it was evident that neither Carson nor Elizabeth wanted to leave, they were both caught up in the amazing thing that was Madison. John reached out and touched them both. "Keep an eye on them," he said. "If they start getting physical, just..." he made a frustrated motion with his hand, "...shoot them." He let out one more irritated sigh as he left the lab. 

"I've got some work to finish up, but seriously, don't worry about tomorrow. It'll be fine. Especially if they can get whatever it is they're doing working. Getting the Daedalus back to the Milky Way is pretty high on the priorities scale." Caldwell nodded with a crooked smile. "She's something else, Sheppard."

"Yeah. She is that." John watched Caldwell walk down the hall, leaving Ronon and Teyla with him. "Mess first, I guess. I've already put in an order for supplies."

"You and Ronon go ahead, I will go directly to the apartment and begin putting things away," Teyla said.

Nodding shortly, more grateful than he was afraid he conveyed, John turned left with Ronon as Teyla entered the nearest transporter. The mess hall kitchen staff had put John's order into crates and labeled them; all John and Ronon had to do was borrow (steal) a couple of hand-trucks and load it up. As they headed for the transporter, Ronon asked, "What's up?"

"What?" John said, frowning at the crates -- he'd specified no citrus and that looked like an orange.

"What's up?" Ronon repeated, giving John a look from the corner of his eye. "You're acting like somebody pissed in your milk."

"No, I'm not." John stabbed at the dot representing the location of his new home. Maybe he should just save time and take his shoes off now, though he wasn't exactly sure how pregnant Rodney was planning on keeping him.

"Yes, you are." 

They got to the apartment and John opened the door. "No, I'm not."

"Not what?" Teyla asked, picking up one crate and placing in the kitchen.

"He's pissed about something," Ronon said.

"No, I'm not!" John turned and put his hands on his hips. "What would I have to be pissed about, anyway? I've got the complete suburban experience right here, the only thing I'm missing is one point five children and a fucking dog -- oh, wait, I've even got that. And a goddamned cat too." He opened the fridge and began pitching things into it. 

Suddenly, Teyla was there, preventing him from putting anything else in the fridge. "John. Stop."

"I can't stop," he fumed at her. "I'm the _mother_ , didn't you know that?" Shaking his head, he slammed the fridge door and walked away, went out on the balcony into the early evening air, leaned on the railing and tried to lose his sudden and inexplicable anger.

Well, maybe not 'inexplicable,' but he sure didn't want to think about where it came from.

He felt rather than saw Teyla join him. "Why are you feeling such anger and resentment, John? Is it born from your jealousy?"

Choking, John turned to her. " _What_ jealousy?" he demanded.

She put her hand on his arm and for some reason, it helped him calm. "The jealousy you feel whenever Maddie shares something with Rodney and not you; the resentment that there is something in her life you cannot share. It is perfectly natural, John."

"Now you sound like Heightmeyer," John was trying to snarl but didn't quite make it. "Though I'm sure she'll be around soon anyway." Now he just sounded petty. Teyla said nothing, but left her hand on his arm, a soothing touch. He took a deep breath. "They get caught up in stuff I can't follow," he finally muttered. "She's a genius, just like him, and I'll never be able to..."

"Yes, you will," Teyla said, her voice firm. "Yes, she is a genius, but she is also a little girl who has lost her parents. She loves you, John. For her sake, do not lose sight of that."

"You _have_ been taking lessons from Heightmeyer," he said, but was unable to put any heat into the words. The sun had just set to his right, leaving a brilliant display of the color spectrum. "I guess I've been..." He stopped and thought for the right word. 

"Angry?" she supplied.

He half-shrugged. "Maybe. Frustrated? I don't know. Rodney and I had... a fight, of sorts... a discussion... before all this started. I told him he wouldn't be able to just... just... disappear for weeks at a time into his lab, that he had a _family_ he had to take care of." There were too many words and not enough meaning; it was so hard to try to push past his natural reticence, even with Teyla, one of his best friends. "So now, instead of disappearing alone, he's taking Madison with him... leaving me... Maddie and Rodney... they're more than... more than I..."

"Ever expected to have?" she supplied. Her voice was gentle, her thought almost bang on the money. Finding out how well Teyla knew him was a constant surprise.

"I guess. You know... you and Ronon, Elizabeth, Carson... you're all my... you know..."

She smiled. "Family. Yes, John, I am aware of that."

"I... never had that before. Never... yeah, okay, never really expected to have it." He sighed again, feeling caught between flaying himself alive and an insulin feast. "I'd do... hell, I'd do anything for any of you, but... it's different with Maddie." He looked down. "I love her, with all my heart, and I've only known her for a few months. She crawled under my skin, Teyla. She really did."

"Madison is a wonderful girl, John. She has been traumatized, hurt quite badly, and yet she is able to remain happy and loving. That is a gift, you must remember that." Ronon came out to the balcony holding three beers, one for each of them. "My people have been culled for thousands of years; so many of us have lost parents, children... yet we know we must continue, must live for those who have been taken, no matter how hard it is."

"She showed me pictures of her mom and dad," Ronon said. "I know they were special but I didn't have to meet them to know that. She's a reflection of them. She wouldn't be able to be so happy and fun if she mourned them every day."

"And it is not natural for us to mourn every day," Teyla said, nodding. "Children instinctively know these things. Would you begrudge her love of Rodney?"

"Of course not!" John snapped immediately. Then he sighed and took a deep drink from his bottle. "I know, I know, everything you're saying is the same thing I've said myself. When we were in Canada... well, it was different." He took another drink before continuing. " _Rodney_ was different."

"Now you have returned to Atlantis, with Rodney and Madison, and the dynamic has changed."

This time even Ronon gave her an incredulous look. "Yeah, lessons from Heightmeyer," John said, shaking his head.

Teyla raised her eyebrow. "Am I not correct?" she asked in that patient, _agree with me or you're toast_ tone.

John knew better than to risk his life and shins by not doing so. Instead, he sighed and finished his beer. "We've been back less than a day and already this is spinning out of control," he muttered.

"Only if you let it, John," Teyla said quietly. "There are things you are able to do with Madison, things that are geared more for a child than a genius. You can teach her to swim and to surf, to ride on your death-board--"

He looked up, affronted and insulted. "Skateboard!"

She was smiling and didn't try to hide it. "She is still a child," she reiterated. "Yes, a genius, and Rodney will be the best one to help her explore that part of her life. But _you_ are the one who will help her _be_ a child, help her grow into a woman."

John traded a look with Ronon, who shrugged. "I don't have McKay's brains, but even if she does, she's still fun to hang with. I liked showing her the greenhouses today."

"You liked it a bit too much, or maybe she did," John said with a grimace. "I think maybe I should dip her in the ocean before bathing her tonight." He looked at his watch and realized it was later than he thought. "She's going to crash soon."

"Then let us go and fetch her," Teyla said, squeezing his arm gently. "I have put away most of her clothing, though there is much that belongs to you and Rodney, I think. There is still food to put away, but nothing perishable, I believe."

With Ronon's and Teyla's help, John got the clothing sorted out, though he didn't put anything away in his bedroom, that would have to wait until later. He shook his head -- it was a task he really didn't like to think about, but it was going to have to be done. However, he was _not_ going to do Rodney's part of it. Just a little rebellion against the onslaught of genius.

When they got down to the lab, they found Madison flagging fast and Carter laughing on the plasma screen. "...Because _I_ recruited her, McKay!" she said.

Rodney blinked, having apparently been brought up short. "Oh. Well. Good work, then." He visibly changed gears. "I need you to look over everything, check it all out. Hermoid will be on the Daedalus, right? I can get him involved as well."

"It sounds like the math has checked out fine," Carter said. "Shoot me the rest now. I can get a few others to look at it. Kvasir is here, I can run it by him before Hermiod gets it." She smiled. "I think you've got a passed-out princess behind you."

Maddie was already half asleep and looking even dirtier than she had been. "Hi, Sam," she said softly.

"Hi yourself, kiddo," Sam replied. "I'm glad you all got there safely. I've got the upload and will check it now. Thanks for your help, Trish."

The tall, beautiful mathematician smiled. "You told me it would be different, Sam, I think you were understating the case."

John walked to Madison as the call was cut off. "Are we done here?" he asked, trying to keep Madison at arm's length.

"She is," Rodney said with a sigh. "Liu and I are going to be here quite a bit longer. Assuming we haven't missed anything glaring, we'll need to reconfigure the hyperdrive to generate the super-holes, and that's going to take a while."

"I'll take Maddie home, then, hose her down, put her to bed." He didn't want to say it, but he made himself speak. "Don't... don't be all night." He winced at how tentative his voice sounded.

It was the right thing to say, however, because Rodney visibly melted. "I won't," he promised, quietly and sincerely. "As soon as I can, I'll be home."

John nodded and was able to meet Rodney's gaze briefly before turning to Madison. "I don't even want to pick you up, Beav," he said. "Can't we just transport her to the ocean or something?"

"I'm as dirty as she is," Ronon said. He picked Madison up and she giggled. "But I don't need help bathing."

"I am not tempted to help you, Ronon," Teyla said primly. 

They got Madison back to the apartment and John started her bath. "It's a good thing Ancient washing machines are so good, because otherwise, these would be trash," he said, holding up her dirt-encrusted jeans and shirt. Teyla and Ronon were still in the kitchen, putting away the last of the supplies.

It was actually easier to bathe Madison in the bigger tub, and John discovered a handheld sprayer that attached to the faucet -- washing filthy hair was not something he looked forward to, but it was certainly easier.

By the time she was out of her bath, dried and dressed, she looked about ready to collapse. "We need to brush your hair, Beav," John reminded her. If they didn't, it would come out all matted the next morning.

"Aunt Teyla," Maddie murmured. "Can she do it? You pull too much."

"Not as much as Rodney does," John said, pretending to be wounded. He handed her the large-toothed comb they used. "Go ask."

Teyla was happy to comb Madison's fine, golden hair and did it so much easier than John or Rodney could -- must be a female thing. They talked about little things, how much Atlantis was different from Canada, the people Madison had met, the things she had done. "Where's Unca Mer?" she asked through a yawn.

"He's still working in the lab on the equations you gave him," John said. "It's kind of important to get it finished before tomorrow."

"Uh-huh." Her hair combed and nearly dry, she snuggled into Teyla's shoulder, already three-quarters asleep. "Unca John?"

"Yeah, Beav?" John tucked a wing of hair behind her ear before plucking her off Teyla's lap and carrying her to bed.

"Why's it so loud? Turn it down, 'k?" 

John tucked her under the covers of her new bed and made sure the stuffed dog was next to her. "What? What do you mean, Maddie?" he asked quietly.

"Too loud," she breathed, in the next second sound asleep. 

There were nightlights in Atlantis in most living quarters, they'd found that out early on. Generally they were strip lights along the baseboards or over doors. John had the main light out and the dim strip lights on, but he made sure to keep the door to her room open enough to hear her.

"Is she going to experience the 'night terrors' you spoke of earlier?" Teyla asked. 

John got another beer for himself and plopped on the couch next to her. "I hope not, but I'm not holding my breath. This day has been one wild ride." He was going to stop at his second beer because he was beginning to feel like Madison.

It must have shown on his face because Ronon stood. "I need a shower too, so I'd better go."

"I will retire as well." Teyla patted his shoulder as he started to get up. "No, stay down. Tomorrow will be very busy, you should rest as much as you can."

With Teyla and Ronon gone, the apartment looked barren. Finishing his beer, John stayed on the sofa and tried to imagine where their stuff would go. He was pretty sure the piano would fit into the little alcove near the balcony doors, and Rodney's favorite chair next to it. They were lucky that the sofa was comfortable since they hadn't brought the other one along. There was still the stuff in John's old room to move, but he wanted to wait on that until they were better settled in the new place. The boxes containing Rodney's papers could go into the little storage room John had discovered off the kitchen. He figured it was normally a pantry, but they wouldn't need to stock supplies for every meal, since they weren't far from the transporter and the mess hall.

When he found his eyes sagging shut for the third time, he gave in. He finished his beer, put the bottle in the sink for later recycling, and turned off the main lights in the living room. He checked on Maddie -- she was still out, but it didn't seem to be a very restful sleep.

Before he crawled into bed, he checked his watch. It was only half-past twenty-two hundred and he was already exhausted. He used to be able to go thirty-six hours on five hours of sleep. Getting old sucked.

* * *

It was a quarter to oh-one-hundred and Rodney was plodding on auto-pilot to the apartment. The work wasn't done, but he could tell he wouldn't be able to contribute anything of any import, not at his current level of exhaustion. Liu turned out to be quite an asset; she assured him she wasn't tired enough to make mistakes yet and he'd checked her work so far -- she was actually pretty good. She wasn't as good as Madison or himself, of course, but she could fake it pretty well. Thank God Carter knew who to recruit.

The apartment was dark, with only the small strip lighting giving him an idea where things were. The door to Madison's room was ajar and when Rodney peeked in, he saw her on the bed. She was obviously sleeping but it didn't seem peaceful -- Rodney wondered if she'd had night terrors already. He sneaked in and pulled the sheet over her shoulder gently and she sighed, snuggling down into her pillow.

John was a warm lump under the covers of their bed, so deeply asleep he didn't even move when Rodney crawled under the covers with him. When Rodney rolled enough to wrap himself partially around John, though, John woke, at least a little.

"Hey. You're back."

"Yeah. Finally."

"Is it good?"

"Yeah. I think so." Rodney sighed as John rolled into his embrace. "If we're right, they can be back in the Milky Way inside two days."

That got John's attention. "Two days?!"

"Yeah." They settled back and Rodney buried his nose in John's hair. "It might even mean time travel. It's that revolutionary."

John didn't say anything, but Rodney could tell he was thinking. "All out of Madison."

"Yeah." It was scary sometimes how brilliant Madison was, how completely beyond anyone else she was. And she was only getting smarter, too. Rodney hoped it wouldn't affect her too much. "Did she have night terrors?"

John sounded half-asleep again. "No. Not yet. But I'm thinking she will."

Rodney sighed and tried to turn his brain off to sleep. He succeeded pretty well, because the clock next to their bed was showing it only about an hour before dawn when Madison's voice woke him up.

"Unca Mer?"

Well, at least she wasn't screaming. "Wha-- Maddie? What's wrong?"

Her voice was shaking and high-pitched. "It's too noisy, I can't sleep, can you turn it down?" She climbed on the bed next to Rodney and put her hands over her ears. "I can't sleep, it's too loud! Please, Unca Mer, Unca John..."

John was awake too. "Maddie?" he said as Rodney sat up and pulled her over until she was between them. "Baby, what's--"

"It's too loud!" she wailed, shaking and pressing her hands to her ears. "I can't make it stop, I tried pulling my pillow over my head and it didn't matter it's too loud!" She was crying, big, gasping sobs, and Rodney was beginning to feel frantic. 

"Baby, there's no sound here, how do you hear it? What does it sound like?" John put his arms around her and pulled her to his chest. "Can you tell me? What does it sound like?"

"I'm calling Carson," Rodney muttered, reaching for his radio on the table next to the bed. "McKay to Beckett, it's an emergency, do you read?"

John nodded and rocked Madison, tried to soothe her. "Tell me what it sounds like? Can you hear my voice over it?"

"Uh-huh," Madison said. She was shaking harder.

"Rodney? What is it?" Carson's voice sounded as exhausted as Rodney felt. 

"It's Maddie, something's wrong, can you come over, please?" 

He must have sounded desperate because Carson's voice was abruptly sharp. "Aye. I'll be there in just a few."

"...And... and it sounds like a telephone... sorta... but so loud, it hurts sometimes that it's so loud!" Madison was saying between sobs. Rodney remembered seeing a box of tissues in the living room so he fetched them, quickly. "It's just so loud, it's been loud all day but now it's louder and it won't... it won't..." Rodney took a wad of tissues and wiped her face and nose as John hugged her tightly. His gaze met John's over her head and John looked as freaked out as Rodney felt.

"Can you hear anything... anything special? Names, places, people's voices?" John asked quietly, sounding far more in control than Rodney could manage. 

"You don't hear it?" Madison sniffed, still shaking. "It's like... it's like..."

Carson must have flown through the corridors because he rushed in, carrying a med kit. "Now, then, what's happening here?" he asked, sitting on the bed. Rodney made room for him to see Madison. "Hello, lovely. Your uncle said something's wrong, can you tell me? Do you hurt?"

"No... no..." Madison shrank away from him a little. "It's so loud! I can hear it in my head and I can't sleep because it's so loud. Dr. Carson, can you make it stop? Please?"

"I don't hear anything, Maddie," Carson said gently. "Let me look into your ears and see if there's anything wrong there." Working quickly, his voice low and soothing, Carson checked her out -- ears, nose, throat, temperature, heart and lungs. "Your little heart is beating too fast, my dear. We need to calm you down and check you over better. Do you remember the scanner?"

"Uh-huh," she gasped, still pushing herself into John's embrace. 

"Let's go to the surgery and I'll do another scan, see if there's something else there. All right?"

"O-okay," she said. Rodney got up and pulled on some pants then held Madison tightly while John did the same. Then John scooped her up and they all hurried to the infirmary.

Atlantis was deserted at the early hour, which was a good thing. They were moving so fast Rodney felt like they were running, and it still wasn't fast enough. Madison was still shaking and crying, pressing her hands to her ears and trying to burrow into John's chest. Carson hurried ahead. "There's naught there that I can see," he murmured to Rodney. "Nothing anomalous except her heart rate, and I think that's just panic. Has she ever done anything like this before?"

"No." Rodney's mouth was dry and his own heart rate must have been off the chart. 

Carson didn't say anything else until they reached the infirmary. "Put her down on the scanner bed, please," he said, getting the apparatus. The night-shift nurse hurried over to help him. "There now, just stay still while the green light takes a picture of you, all right?"

John released her hand long enough for the scanner to go over her, then picked it up again. Once the scanning was done, Madison sat up and Rodney sat with John, sandwiching her between them. "Well?" Rodney said.

Carson was shaking his head. "I dinna see a thing," he murmured. "I'd like to give her a mild sedative, calm her down, then maybe try a PET scan." He smoothed Madison's hair back from her forehead. "I'm sorry I can't tell you exactly what it is right now, lovely," he said gently. "Sometimes medicine takes a while to figure out what' s wrong. I think we'd all be happier if you could take some medicine to help you sleep, even with all the noise you hear."

"You mean a shot," Madison said, her face screwing up even more, her body pulling back.

Rodney looked at John then at Carson. "Can we avoid that until we have to?" John asked.

Carson didn't look happy about it, but he obviously understood her fear. "Aye. But my dear, I want you to try and calm down. Take very deep breaths, in through your nose and out through your mouth. Show her the rhythm, lads." He turned away to the night duty nurse. "I want to initiate the PET scanner process, and put a call in to Dr. Phillips too, please." He stepped away.

Rodney looked down at Madison, who was trying to breathe and not doing so well at it. Her body was still shaking, her face was as white as a sheet and there were bruises around her eyes. He carefully wiped the new tears off her face with the hem of his t-shirt. "It'll be all right, Three-M," he murmured, kissing the top of her head. "You'll see. Carson can cure everything."

"Your uncle is right," John said, with equal gentleness. His arm and Rodney's were tangled around Madison's back, supporting her and loving her, reassuring her as well as themselves. "It'll be okay, Beav, I promise."

Carson returned with two small cups, one filled with water, the other with a red syrup. "Here, then, let's get this down you and maybe we won't have to have any shots."

"What--" Rodney said, but Carson cut him off.

"It's Benedryl, Rodney, children's dose. Harmless, I assure you."

Rodney sighed. "Okay." 

"Now, take this, and it doesn't taste very good, so here's some water to chase it down." Madison took the medicine and the water, her hands still shaking so hard that John had to help steady her grip. "Good lass. In a few moments, we'll have the big machine all powered up and it should help us get a better picture of what's inside you."

If Rodney hadn't been staring at John, he would have missed it -- he briefly flinched and turned his head. Rodney looked at Carson to find him staring in the same direction. Madison cried out, bending over with her hands pressed to her head and only then did the muted noise of machinery hit Rodney's ears.

"Oh my God," he whispered, even as John turned back to Madison. "It's... damn. John! Why did you flinch? Why did you--"

"The machine, it was coming online," John said. Madison was still whimpering, curling up into a tight ball. "I..." John froze and his eyes grew wide. "Crap! It's the city!" John jumped up and scooped Madison into his arms. "Carson! Call Elizabeth, we're taking off for the mainland!"

Rodney had to work to keep up with John, the man was moving like someone possessed all the way to the 'jumper bay. Rodney followed him on board a 'jumper and John carefully passed Madison to Rodney's arms before falling into the pilot's seat. "Hang on, baby," he said, his voice choked. "It'll be okay, I promise."

Thank God for inertial dampers, Rodney thought as John shot through the barely-opened roof and out into space above the city. He seemed to be trying to get the maximum distance -- vertically or horizontally -- from Atlantis. Rodney sat unrestrained in the co-pilot's seat, cradling Madison, rocking her gently.

When he had the 'jumper leveled off and headed for the mainland, John took a big breath and turned to Rodney. "How's--"

Madison was asleep in Rodney's arms, completely boneless in her sprawl. Rodney met John's gaze and felt almost as fragile as Maddie had a few minutes before. It took him a few false starts and effort to keep his voice down, but finally he managed to say, "You never told me."

John let his head thunk on the back of his seat. "I never..." He stopped and sighed. "Until you asked me how I knew, I never did. Know, I mean. It was..." he made a vague gesture with one hand, "was just always _there_ , a murmur in the back of my brain, I thought it was just me, a combination of radio and people talking and the ocean..." He sighed again. "Yesterday, when Maddie got up before us, I found her on the balcony and she said it was 'loud' and I thought, yeah, oceans are loud." He turned his head to look at Rodney and the guilt and pain revealed there made Rodney instantly forgive him. "I never thought it could be something that... that could be... I don't know. Quantified? Heard?"

Rodney had to swallow before he could talk. "Then why aren't you overwhelmed by it? For that matter, why am I not? It's obviously a product of the gene..."

"You think?" John frowned in thought. "Why--"

"Because both you and Beckett reacted!" Rodney hissed. "When the PET scanner came on, both of you reacted to it before the actual sound hit me -- both of you _and_ Madison. You tell me what the common denominator would be!"

"Crap." John turned his attention to the sky outside the 'jumper again. "Natural gene. But... Why her? Why doesn't it incapacitate me or Carson? Wait..." 

Rodney knew exactly where John's thoughts were heading. "She's a kid, you're adults, for one; it's easier for you to 'block' it out or something like that. For another, both of you have been in Atlantis since she came back online, so I imagine the effects have built up slowly, making it easier for you to filter the specific perception. We should check with Carson about new people with the natural gene rotated to Atlantis, there might be headaches or other problems we never associated with having the gene and having the fucking city _talking_ to you..." 

John dropped his head to his chest. "I should have..."

"Stop that right now." Rodney took a deep breath. "Let's go to the mainland, find Halling, get her a bed. I can go back to the city and... and... figure something out, get something to help her."

"Can you?" John's voice sounded thick and he wouldn't look at Rodney.

"Hey, genius here," Rodney replied softly. "I'll figure something out." There was no choice about that.

* * *

Elizabeth must have radioed the mainland because Halling was waiting for them near the area where they generally landed 'jumpers. It took both Rodney and John to get Madison to the 'guest' hut, but she didn't even twitch, that's how deeply asleep she was. Rodney carefully put her on a bed and pulled the thick blankets up around her neck before kissing her gently on the forehead.

"I'll lay down with her," John told Rodney. "Make sure she doesn't freak out when she wakes up."

"We will take good care of both of them," Halling said, patting Rodney's shoulder, giving them an earnest look. 

"I know... I do..." Rodney looked terrible -- exhausted and worried and everything in between.

Not allowing himself to think, John reached out and grabbed Rodney, hauled him into a tight embrace. "You need to go back, to figure out how to fix this," he murmured into Rodney's hair.

Rodney's arms came up and wrapped themselves around John, squeezing. "Yeah. And the Daedalus will be here soon, too." The sun had been no more than a dim light from the east in the city, but on the settlement, it was still pitch-dark. 

"Come back as soon as you can, but don't worry. She's fine, now." Reluctantly, John released Rodney from his embrace. "And be careful with the 'jumper," he added, just to make Rodney roll his eyes.

Halling walked Rodney back to the 'jumper while John stretched out carefully on the bed, tucking Madison's head under his chin. He didn't intend on sleeping, only resting, but his intentions got side-tracked by the peace of the area. Madison squirming and yawning next to him woke him with a start. "Maddie?"

She was still half-asleep. "Unca John?" She yawned and knuckled her eyes. John felt her stiffen as she looked around. "Where...?"

"We're on the mainland, with the Athosians," John said, giving her a tight hug. "Must be your week to go to sleep in one place and wake up in another," he said, smiling. "Do you remember earlier this morning?"

She looked blank for a moment then her eyes widened. "Oh! The sound's gone! It's quiet again!"

"Yep. Do you want to know why?" He sat up on the furs and blankets, helping her sit up too. His watch told him a little more than three hours had passed. 

Madison was still looking around the hut with wide eyes. "Uh-huh."

"It was the city, Atlantis herself," John said. He would have bet it was impossible for her eyes to get any wider, and he would have lost. "Atlantis likes people like you and me, I always knew that, but didn't realize she also likes to keep us informed of everything that happens. I thought it was just me."

"But it was me too?" Madison had her stuffed dog by the neck as she rooted around until the covers were off her legs. 

"It was. I'm sorry I didn't recognize it, Beav."

"That's okay, Unca John." she hugged him tightly. "I won't have to go back home, will I?"

"Not unless you mean Atlantis as home, because yeah, your uncle is working on how to keep the noise level down for you right now."

"Yay! Unca Mer will fix it, he can fix anything. What's for breakfast?"

"I don't know," John said with a grin. Madison never failed to amaze him. "Let's find out." 

John lifted her off the bed and just as he realized she was still wearing her nightgown, Teyla walked in. Her mouth was turned up into a big smile. "I thought I heard voices in here," she said. 

Madison yelled, "Aunt Teyla!" and crashed into her legs. "The city was trying to talk to me, Aunt Teyla! That's why it was so loud all the time!"

Teyla crouched down and hugged Madison properly. "So your uncle has told me," she said. "He asked me to come out on another 'jumper with some clothes for you." She pointed to a stool off to the side, where a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, shoes and socks rested. 

"Oh, thank God," John muttered. "Beav, why don't you get dressed while I go use the toilet, okay?"

"Okey-dokey," she said, as Teyla helped her pull her nightgown over her head.

The Athosian settlement had grown over the years, had become almost a small town. The Atlantis crew had helped erect buildings, supplied generators for electric stoves, lights and a radio to keep in touch, and had also supplied plumbing -- pipes for water indoors and sewage for the communal bathhouses. It wasn't up to Atlantis standards, but they liked it that way.

By the time he came back from the toilets, meeting Madison and Teyla on the way to them, he knew the settlement was completely awake and bustling. Halling was working on something with some other men but came over when John approached. "You have rested well?"

"Yeah, a little too well," John replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "Didn't actually expect to."

Halling smiled broadly. "You looked as though you needed it, when you arrived. Teyla has explained to me what was happening with the small one, Madison?"

"Yeah. Good. When did she get here?"

Halling gestured with his chin. "Here she comes, you should ask her. I had the impression she had news for you anyway." Before Madison slammed into John's legs again, he went to one knee, hugging her tightly. "There is food to break your fast waiting for you." Halling nodded to both John and Teyla before turning back to his work.

"Do they got French toast here, Unca John?" Madison asked, breathless. "This is a cool place!"

"I don't think they have French toast," John replied, ruffling Madison's hair. "But let's go find out what they do have."

"There are fried batter cakes available, I believe," Teyla said, steering them in the right direction. 

"What's that?" Madison asked, allowing herself to be pried from John's legs to take his hand.

"You'll like them," John said with a grin. 

Madison certainly did. She said they looked like pancakes without the syrup, but her first bite of the sweetness convinced her she didn't need any syrup at all. She gobbled down three of the big cakes, along with juice and nearly half of a pam. Teyla was impressed.

John and Teyla took their tea outside once Madison was done and sat together on one of the benches. Madison sat between them at first, being shy around so many people she didn't know, until Jinto, wearing a huge smile, approached John.

"Major Sheppard! My father said you were here!"

John pulled Jinto into a hug, laughing -- he'd never bothered to correct Jinto on his rank and never would. "Yep, got here before the sun was even awake. Jinto, this is--" John blinked in confusion, what could he call Madison, his niece? His daughter? Unable to think of a quick answer, John dropped back and punted. "This is Madison. Madison, this is Jinto. You might be taking classes together once we get everything settled down."

Madison ducked her head but smiled. Jinto said, "We are playing kick-the-ball, would you like to play?"

"I don't know how," Madison said softly, looking up to John's face for approval.

"I will teach you," Jinto said. "It's not difficult."

John nodded, smiling at Madison, who abruptly jumped to her feet. "Okay!" she said, and ran off with Jinto.

Teyla laughed. "They will be good for each other," she said. 

"Yeah. Jinto's a great kid." John took a sip of his tea. "She didn't have a lot of friends on Earth, you know."

"Then Jinto will be even more of a help to her." She sipped her own tea. "Rodney woke me very early and told me some of what happened last night." 

"Yeah." John took a deep breath and let it out, shaky. "It was... It was..."

"Terrifying?" she supplied.

"Yeah. And then some." He felt a ghost of the panic from the night before give him goose-bumps. "Thank God for Rodney, he figured it out almost immediately."

"And she no longer heard the... sound?... as soon as you left Atlantis?"

"Yeah. She passed out on Rodney's lap. And she told me this morning she doesn't hear it any more." 

"What was it?" 

John took another deep breath. "I'm not really sure." He frowned into the distance. "When I came back to Atlantis, I remember feeling... welcomed? ... it was a sensation... It was like something in the back of my brain, not voices, not machinery, just... there, letting me know I was back."

Teyla was also frowning as she listened to John's voice. "Some kind of... signal? Perhaps in the way I am able to sense the Wraith?"

"Yeah." John nodded. "Maybe. I noticed it when the PET scanner came online. That thing's a huge power drain... maybe it's an early warning signal or something like that. People with the gene can be 'contacted' via the city and just... automatically know what was happening."

"That does make sense," Teyla said. "And it is in line with what we have already discovered about Atlantis."

"Yeah. I just wish I'd realized it earlier."

Teyla looked faintly amused. "You cannot find something unless you know to look for it, Col- John."

John snorted in laughter. "And there's the other part. I'm essentially married with a kid, Teyla. And I'm more freaked out about not freaking out than anything." He remembered the night before with a wince. "Except when I am, I guess."

She chuckled and bumped his shoulder with hers. "You seem to be doing just fine, John. I promise I will continue to let you know if you are not."

Remembering how she essentially beat his ass into the ground before he went back to Earth to find Rodney, John winced. To himself, he swore to never, _ever_ let Teyla's warnings go unheeded again.

After a few more minutes enjoying the day and the tea, John checked in with Rodney, via the satellite relay. Rodney sounded horrible and John told him so. "Well, yeah, but I can't stop now. I'm seriously multi-tasking here, and if I even slow down, I lose it. How's Maddie?"

"She's fine. Thank you for sending Teyla and clothing."

"Teyla brought clothes? Oh... shit. I forgot."

John laughed and shook his head -- in Rodney's place, he would have done the same. "She remembered and I think that's all that's necessary. How are the hyperdrive mods coming?"

"Very, very well and extremely exhausting," Rodney replied. "Hermiod and Kvasir have approved both the proof and the applications and while I can't say for sure, I think Hermiod is a bit pissed off that he didn't come up with the idea himself. I can't wait to be able to tell him, face to face, that a six year old human girl came up with the whole idea."

"Oh... yeah." John never had liked the Asgard, the weird-looking, naked aliens. "I think I'd like to see that myself."

"Hey, listen," Rodney said, almost before John stopped talking, "Carson's got an idea about how to block the city's shouting at people, specifically at Maddie, and there _have_ been some unexplained headaches and stuff with the new people who have the gene. He's been muttering about something like an EM static generator that could help mask it out for her. I don't think he'll have it ready before the Daedalus gets here in... oh, shit, half an hour!... but it'll be soon. Wish me luck!" 

Rodney cut the transmission and John shook his head, rolling his eyes. That was good news about the possible blocking tech, maybe if they could use it to help Madison 'turn down' the volume so she could gradually get used to it...

"Unca John!" Madison skidded to a stop in front of him as he left the communications shed. She wasn't as dirty as she had been the day before, but it was close. "C'mon, you gotta show them football!" she said, tugging on his hand. "Jinto says you promised him you would then you didn't!"

John grinned. Since he was stuck on the mainland for at least one day, he might as well enjoy himself.  "Sounds like a plan to me!"

* * *

Rodney was absolutely exhausted. The Daedalus had just left after they had installed and tested the modified, hyper-hyperdrive and would be back in the Milky Way within three days. All their furniture and other luggage had been beamed to their quarters where it was probably stacked up so high they wouldn't be able to get around it. And Carson had been working with Prescott and had come up with a way to shield against the EM communications the city pressed on those who had the gene -- the natural gene only, dammit. He said it worked for him, but since Rodney hadn't felt it, he couldn't be positive. There was one good way to test it, though.

Carson himself flew the 'jumper to the mainland after seeing how exhausted Rodney was. It was getting close to dinnertime but all Rodney wanted was to collapse in his bed for, oh, a week or so. They had only been on Atlantis for a little over one full day. God. It was ridiculous. And he had _wanted_ to get back to this grind?

The first thing that hit him as he left the 'jumper was the mouth-watering smell of food being prepared. His stomach apparently realized it was empty and made a sound even Carson could hear.

"I'm sure it'll be wonderful food," he said to Rodney. "I've eaten here many a time and it's all quite delicious."

"At this point, I'm ready to eat a lemon just for the sustenance," Rodney growled in reply.

Madison was the first to see them, shrieking, "Unca Mer! Unca Mer!" before crashing into him. He really had to figure out a way to get her to stop doing that.

He couldn't be sour in the face of her happiness. "You are filthy! Again!" he said, going down on one knee to hug and kiss her. "I missed you," he added softly.

"Yep!" she replied, squeezing him tight. "I missed you too! Unca John and me showed Jinto and Wex and Amaly how to play football and we played kick-the-ball and I taught them how to play freeze-tag and did you know that they came from a whole different _world_ and Jinto said he's seen a _Wraith_ an--"

Rodney started laughing and couldn't stop, not even when John and Teyla saw him and came over. It was slightly hysterical laughter, to be sure, but it still felt pretty good. 

John gave him a hand up and an interrogative look. "You okay there, Rodney?"

"Better now," Rodney replied, surprising himself by leaning in and kissing John briefly. "Have you realized it's only been a bit over a day since we got here?"

John looked surprised and pleased at the kiss. "Yeah, what a way to spend a day, huh? At least I can guarantee that Maddie will sleep through the night tonight, she's burned off her fried batter cakes from this morning and then some."

"Unca Mer, can we have fried batter cakes every morning? Please?"

"Three-M, I've made it a practice to never promise _anything_ when I'm hungry and I'm starved. Let's go eat."

Carson was right, the food was delicious and plentiful. It was amazing how much better he felt once he'd eaten, like he'd gotten his second wind. Or maybe his three thousandth and second wind. Halling even had a little booster chair for Madison and told them to take it back with them. It was relaxing and exactly the thing he needed after the day he'd had, one that started far too early for his taste. 

While Madison ran off some more excess energy, Rodney sat with John and Teyla and gave them the abbreviated version of what he'd done during the day. Teyla was suitably impressed about the mods to the hyperdrive and John was floored. The only drawback, of course, was the necessary power for it -- it would completely drain roughly one ZedPM per trip. But, now that they could refill the ZedPMs, that wasn't much of an issue. And Carter had been working with Madison on how to build new ones. 

Life was looking up, Rodney thought, leaning into John's side. Finally.

It was half past twenty-hundred before they managed to pry Madison away from the Athosians, amidst many promises to return. Jinto especially was very upset to see her go, and Rodney mentally tallied one more conquest for Madison the Adorable. She was still bouncing, talking all the way to the 'jumper, telling them about everything she'd seen. When they got to the 'jumper, she begged John to be allowed to sit in the co-pilot's seat, and he gave in, once she promised not to touch _anything._ She had to sit on her hands, but she followed his direction.

John stopped and hovered less than a mile from Atlantis; they could see it, all lit up against the beautiful Pegasus sky. "Okay, how are we going to do this?" he asked over his shoulder.

Carson pulled the small box out of the bag he'd brought. "We need to know first if it's effective," he said. "Madison, love, you must concentrate on whether you 'hear' the noise, and let me know the moment you do, yes?"

Madison nodded solemnly. "I will, Dr. Carson, I promise." John nodded and slowly approached the city. They were just over the east pier when Madison winced. John brought the ship to a halt again. "I do, but it's not as loud," she said, and John nodded as well. 

"Well, I have theories about that, but let's try this first." He pressed a button and a diode lit. Then slowly turned a dial. 

Madison had a very intent expression on her face, but John's reaction was more pronounced. "Wow! I can feel that!" he said.

"What? How?!" Rodney demanded, angry again that he didn't have the natural gene.

John thought for a moment. "You ever walk into a soundproofed room and close the door? The hush that feels kind of artificial? That's what it's like."

"I don't hear the noise at all, now," Madison said.

"Let me turn it back down slightly," Carson said. He did, slowly, watching both John and Madison. 

"I can hear it, a little," Madison said, and John nodded. 

"Very good!" Carson said. "I've got the dial marked and we'll need to play with it a while, but I think this'll do quite well." He showed Rodney where he had set the dial.

"What's the range on that thing?" John asked, accelerating to the city again. 

"I think about fifty feet," Carson said. "We can also test that, and should. For tonight, however, leave it in Madison's room on all the way, and she should have no troubles." He chucked Madison under her chin and she giggled. 

Carson handed the device to Rodney, who studied it. It was well put together, a small version of an EM static generator. Carson was right, they'd have to play with it and make sure they knew how it worked. Maybe Madison could have it with her at all times -- a bit cumbersome, but he didn't doubt he could make a smaller, more efficient model. He mentally put that on his list of things to do.

Teyla and Carson followed them back to the apartment, discussing the Athosian children and the tutoring program. As they emerged from the transporter, Rodney stopped suddenly, causing John to nearly stumble into him. "The apartment," he said with a sigh. "All the furniture and stuff..."

John sagged. "Crap. I'd forgotten about that. We could sleep in my old room tonight..."

"I think you should go in, first," Teyla said, wearing a mysterious smile.

The door swished open and both Rodney's and John's chins hit the floor. It was all there, all arranged; the piano (which fit perfectly in the alcove by the balcony doors), his favorite chair, even pictures on the wall. Elizabeth, Caldwell and Ronon were just getting to their feet, wearing far too self-satisfied looks on their faces. 

Madison yelled "Yay!" and ran into her room. "It's all here!" she yelled. "My toys and everything!"

Rodney glanced into his and John's room and saw it was neatly finished too. "Did you do this?" he asked Elizabeth, hardly able to get the words out over his astonishment.

"Yes, we did," Elizabeth said with a grin. "Steven, Ronon and I--"

"And a squad of marines," Caldwell added.

"And some of the science staff too. We figured you were far too busy to have to deal with this stuff, so we gave you a hand." She patted Rodney's arm. "Consider it a bonus for all the work you three did today and yesterday."

"Oh my God," John breathed, looking pole-axed. "I can't even begin to thank you enough..."

"Don't need to, Sheppard," Caldwell said. "The modifications made to the Daedalus puts us in arrears with the three of you for a long time. And it really wasn't too tough, the marines handled the heaviest stuff." He frowned. "How did you get permission to bring a piano all the way out here?"

John rubbed the back of his neck and tried to look innocent -- he failed, just like he always did. "Well, actually, I'm not at liberty to divulge that information..."

Madison saved him by finding the TiVO and the cache of DVDs. "SpongeBob! Unca Mer, can I--"

"No, I think it's bath time for all good little geniuses," Rodney said, cutting her off.

"But--"

"No buts."

"But it's been--"

"Madison."

"I wanna watch SpongeBob!" She turned to Ronon. "You want to watch with me, doncha?"

Ronon apparently knew when he was being outmaneuvered. "Uh, I need to get back to my quarters," he said, backing up. Rodney tried to keep from grinning -- it was good to know that there was something frightening to Ronon.

"Unca John, you'll..."

"Madison. You need a bath then you need to go to bed. It will all be here in the morning." Without waiting for her rejoinder, he grabbed her and tossed her over his shoulder. "Say goodnight, Madison." 

"Goodnight, Madison," she replied dutifully, then added, "But I wanna..."

"Bath. Now." They were followed by a chorus of 'goodnights' from everyone in the room.

As they disappeared into the bathroom off Madison's room, Rodney heard Elizabeth say, "Over-tired," to Caldwell.

"Yeah. Big time," Rodney agreed, then he found himself yawning. "As I am, I think. The last day and a half feel like a week to me."

"I don't doubt it," Elizabeth said with a fond smile. "You've done so well, Rodney, given so much in such little time... to have you back on Atlantis is wonderful, just wonderful."

Rodney still couldn't get over that idea, that people were glad he was back, but empirical evidence pointed towards it. Luckily for him, all he had to do was nod and accept the compliment, which is what he did. They all left, Teyla last, smiling her gentle smile as she patted his arm. Then it was quiet in the apartment -- their _home_ \-- save for the sounds of splashing water and high-pitched singing. He collapsed on the sofa, looking around in shock. So many things from so many different places... his home, Jeannie's home, even the stuff from John's old quarters -- the Johnny Cash poster was now on the wall behind their bed and John's skateboard was in the corner of the bedroom. He didn't think John had even noticed, yet.

The splashing sounds had stopped and Rodney figured the bath was over. He wanted to move but it felt like his arms and legs were made of lead. Yeah, over-tired, that's it. Unfortunately, he still needed a shower before he could think about going to bed.

"Unca Mer?" Rodney opened eyes he didn't remember closing and saw Madison, clean and sweet-smelling, standing in front of him.

"Three-M, are you finished with your bath?"

"Uh-huh. I still wanna watch SpongeBob." Her resolute voice melted into a yawn.

"Tomorrow, Madison. Uncle John said it'll all be here tomorrow, and it will. And we have a very busy day -- another very busy day! -- for tomorrow, so you need your sleep."

She deflated and yawned again. "Okay," she said in her most defeated voice.

"Maddie, time for bed," John said, coming out of her room. "Do you need a hand up?" he asked, grinning down at Rodney.

Rodney tried to scowl but he was too tired. He was able, though, to get to his feet by himself. 

They tucked Madison into bed, kissing her goodnight. "I like Atlantis, Unca Mer. I like the Athosian kids too. Can we visit Jinto and Amaly tomorrow?"

"Maybe," Rodney hedged. "We'll see."

"Sleep now, Beav," John added, tucking the covers around her neck. Rodney noticed the EM device sitting on her dresser. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Rodney echoed. They turned off the lights, leaving the nightlights on, and left her bedroom door ajar. "I still can't believe this," Rodney murmured, looking around.

"We've got the best friends in two galaxies," John said, putting his arm around Rodney and squeezing him. 

"In the universe," Rodney agreed in a soft voice. Then he yawned. "I so need a shower..."

"Me too." Then John inhaled sharply. "C'mon, McKay, time to have fun in the bath."

Rodney let himself be pulled into their bedroom and from there into their bath. "Uh, I'm not sure I could get it up even with a crane," he said, watching John turn the lights off in the living room and locking the door to their bedroom. 

John just grinned and pulled his shirt over his head. "Let's find out, shall we?" he said, pulling Rodney's shirt off and letting both fall on the floor. Then John cupped Rodney's head in his hands and kissed him, moving in until they were plastered against each other, chest to chest. 

Man, that felt good, Rodney thought. His dick seemed to agree.

John was a champion kisser, a man who seemed intent on melting the toes of anyone on the receiving end of his fantastic, mind-blowing kisses. His mouth was warm, his lips soft and his tongue was demanding, making Rodney moan involuntarily as it entered his mouth. John knew every hot spot on Rodney's body; which places to kiss, which to suck on, which to lick.

The kiss ended slowly and left them both panting. "C'mon, shower. I don't think I've ever taken a shower with you before." John's voice was husky and his words went right to Rodney's libido.

It was a mad scramble to get rid of their shoes and socks and pants before heading into the bathroom. The shower stall was more like a conference room that could get wet -- there were nozzles everywhere, some of them detachable, and strength settings from misty to punishing. Rodney let himself be pulled in and once John had the temperature set to his satisfaction, he pulled John back to him for more kisses.

Nearly all the showers in Atlantis were capable of dispensing a foaming substance, a gentle soap that could be used everywhere, even on hair. Their shower had it too, and John just kept kissing Rodney as their bodies became slick with water and soap. 

Rodney had no idea how he was able to get hard after the exhausting past day and a half, but he was. John's hands were everywhere, pinching gently, tugging, caressing. Rodney didn't even have to move, John seemed intent on giving him the maximum amount of pleasure as quickly as possible. Rodney was gasping for breath even before John went to his knees and sucked Rodney down. Banging the back of his head on the wall of the shower, Rodney groaned and realized he wasn't going to last very long, not at the rate John was going. "John..." he gasped.

John just looked up at him and pushed a sneaky finger over his hole. That was all it took and Rodney came, so hard he could see stars, his vision graying out. John slithered up his torso and propped Rodney up, kissing his neck and pushing his cock against Rodney's belly. 

Rodney was still panting, trying to recover, tilting his head to one side to give John better access, bringing his arms up to grab John's ass, pulling them even tighter together. John moaned and began pushing himself against Rodney, his own breath stuttering, clotting in his throat.

"God... Rodney..." he gasped. "Please..."

Barely finding enough motor skill, Rodney pushed his hand between them and fisted John's dick, pulling it tight and hard just like John liked it. Within seconds, John was coming too, shaking and groaning deeply in his chest.

They stood there, propping each other up against the wall, trying to get their breath back while the water washed their spunk down the drain. "Jesus," Rodney managed to say. "That somehow managed to be the hottest sex I've had in months," he continued in a more normal tone.

John snorted in laughter and gave Rodney one last, sloppy kiss. "C'mon, Romeo. You know the dawn monster will be jumping on the bed at oh-six-hundred or some other ungodly hour."

They finished their nightly chores, getting in each other's way as they brushed their teeth and peed. Then they got into boxers and t-shirts and fell into bed. Rodney felt only half awake, but he managed to get to his feet again to unlock and open their door a little bit.

Just in case.

And in the morning, he woke to the sound of Madison singing along with SpongeBob and two laughs, one a high-pitched giggle and the other like a donkey's bray. He just smiled, rolled over, put John's pillow over his head and went back to sleep.

end


End file.
